Oakland A’s podcast with Tony Renteria: A’s hope to end 7 game skid tonight vs. Astros ; Clark County officials have their doubts on Vegas ballpark

Oakland Athletics’ Seth Brown hits a two-run home run on a pitch by Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert during the first inning at T Mobile Park in Seattle on Thu May 25, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Tony R:

#1 The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A’s 3-2 Thursday night at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The Mariners completed a four-game sweep of the A’s. This one wound up being the A’s seventh straight loss.

#2 The A’s starting pitcher, J.P.Sears, had an outstanding outing. Sears went five innings, allowing one run and three hits. Sears struck out three and did not walk a batter. His ERA dropped to 4.70.

#3 The A’s will host the Houston Astros at the Coliseum for three games starting Friday night. The A’s will send James Kaprielian (0-4, 8.68 ERA) to the mound. The Astros will counter with Hunter Brown(4-1, 3.20ERA)

#4 The Nevada Legislature is going to take a vote on passing the tax credits for a new ballpark at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino this or next week before the June 5th deadline. The legislature is offering $180 million in tax credits. Nevada residents are skeptical of the deal because the team left what they called a binding agreement at the I-15 and Dean Martin location which was 49 acres for a nine acre location at Tropicana which is not facing the strip on Las Vegas Blvd.

#5 Clark County officials have expressed worry that the tax payers could be on the hook for tax credits if the Tropicana park turns out to be financial boondoggle. In the long run voters will remember who voted for a failed project and may vote those legislators out of office. This is not a sure money maker for Las Vegas or the State of Nevada.

Tony R filled in for Daniel Dullum who does the A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Mariners beat A’s 3-2 swept in four-game series; M’s France clouts two HRs at T Mobile

Seattle Mariners’ Ty France hits a solo home run on a pitch from Oakland Athletics starting pitcher JP Sears during the first inning at T Mobile Center in Seattle on Thu May 25, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A’s 3-2 Thursday night at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The Mariners completed a four-game sweep of the A’s. The A’s starting pitcher, J.P.Sears, had an outstanding outing. Sears went five innings, allowing one run and three hits. Sears struck out three and did not walk a batter. His ERA dropped to 4.70.

Trevor May relieved Sears in the sixth inning. The M’s first baseman, Ty France, who homered in the first, took May deep to tie the game. The Mariners’ starter Logan Gilbert gave up two runs in the first inning. Seth Brown homered to give Oakland an early 2-0 lead. Gilbert was lights out after the first.

In his next seven innings of work, Gilbert allowed one hit. He did not issue the A’s a walk. Closer Paul Sewald did his magic and set the A’s down in order in the ninth.

The A’s took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, Ryan Noda doubled. Gilbert struck out Brent Rooker for the second out. The next hitter, Seth Brown, homered to put the A’s ahead 2-0 midway through the first. The Mariners put one on the board in their half of the first.

In his first game after being hit by a pitch Tuesday night, France hit a solo dinger off Sears. France hit a hanging slider for his fourth home run of 2023. France was 0-for-9 against Sears until his home run. For Sears, it was his 11th gopher ball that he has allowed. The A’s lead 2-1.

There was no scoring until the bottom of the sixth. A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in reliever Trevor May to pitch. Sears allowed the M’s one hit in the four innings after France’s home run. The first Mariner that May faced was France. May hit France with a pitch Tuesday night.

May suffered a bone bruise and had to leave the game. The best revenge for France would be to hit a home run off May. That is what happened. France homered to tie the game. The score is 2-2 after six.

The Mariners scored a run in the bottom of the eighth. Lefty Richard Lovelady was on the hill for the A’s. Lovelady walked leadoff hitter Jose Caballero. It was the first walk issued by the A’s in the game. Lovelady struck out J.P. Crawford for the first out. The next hitter, France, hit a popup that A’s shortstop, Nick Allen, let drop. Allen threw out Caballero at second.

The A’s took a speedy runner off the bases by erasing Caballero at second. It was a smart move, as Julio Rodriguez doubled. France had to stop at third. The A’s issued an intentional walk to Jarred Kelenic to load the bases.

A’s reliever Garrett Acton walked Eugenio Suarez to force in the Mariners’ third run. The Mariners lead 3-2 after eight.
The Mariners brought in closer Paul Sewald to pitch the ninth. Sewald did the job by setting the A’s down to secure the win for Seattle.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are 10-42 for 2023. They have lost eight in a row. The Mariners are 26-24.

The A’s Sears pitched well for Oakland. Sears gave up a home run in the first inning to France and then went four more innings allowing no runs and one hit. Sears threw 59 pitches. Kotsay said Sears did “a nice job.”

The Mariners’ Gilbert gave up a two-run blast to Brown in the first inning. Gilbert retired 15 hitters until Noda singled in the sixth. Gilbert’s line was eight innings, two runs, and three hits.

Noda had two hits, a single and a double. The A’s only other hit was Brown’s home run in the first inning.

The A’s will host the Houston Astros at the Coliseum for three games starting Friday night. The A’s will send James Kaprielian (0-4, 8.68 ERA) to the mound. The Astros will counter with Hunter Brown(4-1, 3.20ERA)

The time of the game was 2:01 and T Mobile crowd for Thursday night in Seattle 19,268.

A’s continue to lose skid reaches six; Mariners beat Oakland 6-1

Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Noda walks away after striking out against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller during the first inning at the T Mobile in Seattle on Wed May 24, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s woes continued once again on Wednesday night. The Seattle Mariners (25-24) sent the beleaguered team down to the seventh consecutive loss by a score of 6-1. The A’s are now 10-41 for 2023. The A’s needs to play better. The starting rotation has an earned run average of 7.5 runs per game.

Teams can only win games with good pitching. A’s manager, to his credit, has his players giving 100%. There is no quit on the team, but the A’s do not have the talent to win. It’s a very sad situation. The A’s coaching staff hopes things will turn around. Oakland has yet to have a one-game losing streak this year. As the losses pile up, players must wonder when things will change. They may, but it appears hopeless at this point in the season.

The A’s played a bullpen game Wednesday night. Reliever Austin Pruitt started the first inning and allowed one hit. Lefty Ken Waldichuk was next as he was brought in to pitch to start the second inning. The A’s lefty gave up three hits to the M’s in the second inning and struck out the side in the third, but things went south in the bottom of the fourth.

The Mariners put five runs on the board. M’s catcher Cal Raleigh started the rally. Waldichuk struck out Teoscar Hernandez for the first out. Waldichuk walked Jose Caballero, sending Raleigh to second. A.J. Pollock singled to load the bases. Sam Haggerty, playing first base instead of the injured Ty France, doubled to drive in two. Pollock stopped at third. J.P. Crawford singled to drive in Pollock with the M’s third run.

Julio Rodriguez singled to make it 4-0. The bases remained loaded. Waldichuk walked Eugenio Suarez to force in the fifth run of the inning. A’s manager replaced Waldichuk with Lucas Erceg. The M’s sent eleven men to the plate in the fourth, leading 5-0.

The A’s put a run on the board in the top of the seventh. JJ Bleday led off the frame with a single. Ramon Laureano struck out. Jace Peterson singled, sending Bleday to second. Aledmys Diaz doubled down the left-field line to drive in Bleday with the A’s first run.

The Mariners’ Teoscar Hernandez, 0-for-11 in the series with the A’s, led off the bottom of the seventh with his ninth big fly of 2023. A’s reliever Sam Long settled down and retired the next three hitters to end the seventh. The Mariners now lead 6-1.

The Mariners bullpen kept the A’s scoreless in the eighth and ninth to secure the win for Seattle. The Mariners beat the A’s 6-1.

Game Notes- The A’s lost for the seventh time in a row and the ninth time in the last ten games. The hapless A’s now own baseball’s worst record, 10-41. The Mariners are now 25-24.

The line for Oakland was one run, seven hits, and no errors. Seattle’s line was six runs, 11 hits, and no errors.

Ken Waldichuk was the losing pitcher. He is now 1-4 with an astronomical 7.40 ERA. The Winning pitcher was Bryce Miller. Miller improved to 3-1.

The Mariners have beaten the a’s all six games played in 2023. The M’s are 29-8 in the last 37 games between the two teams.

The only stats of note for Oakland belonged to Esteury Ruiz. Ruiz leads Major League baseball in two categories. Ruiz has the most stolen base with 26 and has been hit with a pitch 11 times. Ruiz had his eight-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday night as he went 0-for-three.

The A’s wrap up the four-game series Thursday night in Seattle. Left J.P. Sears (0-3 ERA 4.99) will pitch for Oakland. Logan Gilbert (2-2 ERA 3.81) will be on the hill for Seattle. The game will start at 6:40m pm PT.

M’s send A’s down to sixth loss in a row Seattle wins 3-2

BY Jerry Feitelberg

There was good and bad news for the Oakland A’s in Tuesday night’s game against the Seattle Mariners. The good news was that the A’s played better than Monday night. The bad news was they still lost.

The Mariners ruined a good start by the A’s starter, Luis Medina. The 24-year-old Dominican Republic Medina pitched well for four and 2/3rd innings. Luis allowed a single in the first inning and held the M’s hitless until there were two out in the fifth.

Another bit of good news was the two runs the A’s scored in the first inning. The bad news was they managed just two hits over the next eight innings. Seattle’s three runs in the fifth were enough to give them a 3-2 win over the A’s. The loss marks the worse MLB start since the 1932 Boston Red Sox.

The A’s put two runs on the board in the top of the first. Esteury Ruiz got the rally going with a single to left. The hit extended Ruiz’s hitting streak to eight games. Ruiz stole second to get into scoring position. For Ruiz, it was his Major League-leading 25th steal.

Ramon Laureano singled to shallow right. Ruiz scored, and Laureano went to second on the throw home. Jesus Aguilar grounded out 5-3, and Laureano went to third on the play. Catcher Carlos Perez singled to drive in Ramon with the A’s second run. The Mariners did not score in their half of the first. The A’s lead 2-0

The Mariners scored three times in the fifth. Luis Medina had not allowed a hit since the first inning. Medina retired the first two Mariner hitters in the fifth. With two out, catcher Tom Murphy doubled. The next hitter, left-handed hitter J.P. Crawford, took Medina deep.

Crawford’s home run was his second of the year. The ball went out of the park in right-center field. Medina now had to face Ty France. Median retired France the first two times he faced him. Not this time, as France homered to left-center field to give the Mariners a 3-2 advantage after five.

The Mariners’ starter Marco Gonzales settled down and allowed the A’s two hits before he left the game after the sixth inning. The Mariners’ outstanding bullpen set the A’s down in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to secure the win.

Game Notes- with the loss, the A’s have lost six in a row and nine of the last ten played. The A’s are 10-40 for 2023. The Mariners evened their record at 24-24.

The line score for Oakland was two runs, five hits, and one error. The Line for Seattle was three runs, five hits, and no errors. Home runs by J.P. Crawford and Ty France were the big hits in the game.

Luis Medina was the losing pitcher. His record in 0-3. Marco Gonzales was the winning pitcher.
The A’s sent lefty Kyle Muller to Triple-A. Muller was the losing pitcher Monday night. Oakland activated pitcher Trevor May from the 10-day IL. May saw action in the eighth inning, and what an inning it was.

May hit Ty France on the wrist with a wayward fastball. May was barely moving due to the pain. He did get up and made his way to first base. Sam Haggerty replaced him. The next hitter Julio Rodriguez hit a ball down the right-field line.

As Ramon Laureano went to catch the ball in foul territory, it appeared a fan interfered with it. The first base umpire ruled the batter out. The M’s challenged the call, but the review upheld the call. May retired Jarred Kelenic for the second out.

He then hit Eugenio Suarez with a pitch. The Seattle fans were enraged at the events. May stayed in the game to get the third out.

There was more bad news for the Oakland fans. The Nevada Independent reports that the A’s and major Nevada state officials have reached a loose agreement for a public financing package including $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in bonds issued by Clark County.

The A’s still have two games left to play with Seattle before returning home to face the Houston Astros Friday night. It will be a battle of left-handed pitchers. Ken Waldichuk (1-3 ERA 6.85) will pitch for Oakland, and Bryce Miller (2-1 ERA 1.42) will be on the hill for the Mariners. The game will start at 6:40 pm.

Mariners trounce A’s 11-2; Fifth loss in a row for Oakland

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Kyle Muller reacts after walking Seattle Mariners’ AJ Pollock during the second inning at T Mobile Park in Seattle on Mon May 22, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners welcomed the A’s to T-Mobile Park Monday night. The Mariners sent righty Luis Castillo to the hill to face the A’s. Oakland countered with lefty Kyle Muller. The A’s were hoping to snap a four-game losing streak. The Mariners wanted the win to get to just one game below the .500 mark. The Mariners got their wish by punishing the A’s 11-2. The game summary follows below.

The Mariners put the A’s into a 5-0 deficit after the game’s first two innings. In the first inning, with two out and a man on first, Jarred Kelenic blasted his tenth dinger of the year to give the M’s an early 2-0 lead. The M’s added three more in their half of the second. M’s catcher Cal Raleigh singled to get things going for Seattle. A’s starter Kyle Muller issued A.J.Pollock a walk to put two men on with one out. The Mariners’ second baseman Jose Caballero sent his second dinger of the year over the wall in center field. The Mariners lead 5-0.

The Mariners added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Kyle Muller kept the M’s off the board in the third and fourth innings. He appeared to be in a groove. The A’s were hoping Muller could give them six innings. The M’s, however, had other thoughts. Julio Rodriguez, leading off in the fifth, doubled. The next hitter Jarred Kelenic singled to drive in Rodriguez with Seattle’s sixth run of the night. It was Kelenic’s third RBI of the night to put the M’s ahead 6-0.

The A’s mounted a threat in the top of the sixth. The M’s starter Luis Castillo held the A’s to just two hits in the first five innings. In the sixth, the A’s loaded the bases with two outs. Singles by Ryan Noda and Seth Brown put men on at first and third with two out. Castillo walked JJ Bleday to load the bases. Castillo retired Jace Peterson for the third out.

The Mariners continued to torment the A’s pitching staff. Seattle plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Adrian Martinez was pitching for the A’s. Martinez walked A.J. Pollock to start the M’s rally. Martinez retired the next two hitters. Ty France singled, followed by Julio Rodriguez’s second double of the game. Kelenic walked to load the bases. Eugenio Suarez singled to drive in Ty France with M’s eighth run.

The A’s made it 8-2 in the top of the eighth. They put together a single walk, a wild pitch to advance the runners and two ground outs to put the runs on the board.

The Mariners answered with three more runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach. Shintaro Fujinami, after retiring the M’s in order in the seventh, lost command of the strike zone.

He walked a batter, hit another with a pitch, and a single by Kelenic drove in the M’s ninth run. Suarez singled to drive in Rodriguez with the tenth run. Kelenic went to third on the play and scored on an infield out. 11-2 M’s after eight. M’s reliever Chris Flexen set the A’s down in order in the ninth to secure the win.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are 10-39. The Mariners improved to 23-24.Kyle Muller was the losing pitcher. He is now 1-4, and his ERA is a horrendous 8.04. The winning pitcher was Luis Castillo. Castillo won his third game of the year. When Castillo struck out Shea Langeliers in the fifth inning, the crowd gave Castillo a standing ovation as he notched his 1000th career strikeout.

The A’s line was two runs, five hits, and no errors. Seth Brown, just of the IL, had two hits. Esteury Ruiz’s single in the eighth extended his hitting streak to seven games.
The line score for Seattle was 11 runs, 13 hits, and no errors. Eugenio Suarez, Jarred Kelenic, and Jose Caballero each had three RBIs. Kelenic and Caballero homered for Seattle.

On Tuesday, Luis Medina (0-2, 6.88 ERA) goes for Oakland. Lefty Marco Gonzales (3-1,6-10 ERA) will be on the hill for the M’s. The game will start at 6:40 pm.

Oakland Swept By Astros Losing Game Three 2-0; Astros Valdez throws 4 hit gem

In this slowed down shutter speed photo Houston Astros pitcher Framber Valdez looks like he’s inside a Kellogg’s 3-D baseball card throws against the Oakland A’s at Minute Field in Houston on Sun May 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

Oakland Swept By Astros Losing Game Three 2-0

By Barbara Mason

Sunday afternoon the Oakland Athletics (10-38) played game three of their series with the Houston Astros (27-19) and couldn’t avoid getting swept by the Astros at Minute Maid Park 2-0. Saturday’s game was not decided until the eighth inning. Oakland played a very competitive game but just didn’t have enough to get past Houston in the Saturday contest and couldn’t get a run on Sunday getting shutout.

There were some really encouraging moments in the Saturday game that started with pitcher JP Sears who was outstanding after digging out of a deep hole in the first inning. Another highlight were the two stolen bases from Esteury Ruiz who has been a standout this season. With the losses mounting, special moments like these need to be recognized and appreciated.

Sunday’s post game wrap: Sunday the A’s were looking to win at least one game and avoid the sweep.

The first four innings were a pitchers duel and the A’s had the only hit. James Kaprielian went five innings and finished with five strikeouts, three hits and one run. After holding the Astros for four innings Jose Altuve singled in the fifth inning and Jake Meyers scored the Astros first run of the game 1-0.

The bottom of the sixth inning was a busy one for the Astros. A couple of walks and a Yordan Alvarez double and the Astros were threatening. Sam Moll had relieved Kaprielian in the inning. Alvarez did score on a wild pitch from Moll and Houston had taken a 2-0 lead.

The Astros agains threatened in the seventh inning. They had the bases loaded but the A’s kept the Astros off the scoreboard getting out of the inning.

Oakland had been able to hold off the Astros numerous times but were unable to generate any offense of their own. They had one last chance heading into the ninth inning with the Astros leading 2-0. Nick Allen had a hit in the inning but that was about it for the A’s. Houston had won their seventh game in a row and had their second sweep in a row. The Astros are the hottest team in baseball right now and certainly had proven it.

It was a tough loss for Oakland. They did a lot of things right today but didn’t have the offense to get on the scoreboard. The A’s did get to see another Ruiz steal which has become routine for this guy.

The Athletics will travel up to Seattle and T Mobile Park to take on the Mariners Monday night in a four game series. Kyle Muller will take the mound for Oakland with an 1-3 record 7.71 ERA. Luis Castillo will be on the hill for Seattle with a 2-2 record and a 3.31 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM.

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s open up 3 game series in KC tonight; Time running out on A’s ballpark funding in Vegas

Oakland Athletics’ JJ Bleday (33) looks up as he crosses home plate after hitting a home run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu May 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Daniel:

#1 The Seattle Mariners (15-16) Taylor Trammell slugged his second home run in five games after coming off the IL and drove in three runs in Seattle’s 5-3 win on Thursday as the Oakland A’s (6-26) got swept in three games.

#2 Trammell said that his hitting is consistent when pitches are over the plate and not being able to pull the pitch and to hit the ball to all different fields.

#3 A’s starter Drew Rucinski got touched up for two runs in the top of the fourth and three in the top of the fifth was this just a matter of control or the M’s were just seeing the ball pretty good off Rucinski’s pitches?

#4 The A’s attendance did improve over the previous two games getting 13,025 where they got 5,268 on Wednesday night in the their 7-2 ten inning loss that had a 66 minute rain delay.

#5 The A’s have not presented a solid plan according to Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) who said the A’s have no renderings or no proposed public money for the structure on a new A’s ballpark the A’s need $500 million in funding. There are some 32 days left on the legislative calendar and time is running out. Yeager said that if something was going to happen it should have happened last week. If time runs out on the Las Vegas ballpark proposal do you see the A’s having to go back to Oakland Sheng Thao and revisit the possibility of restarting Howard Terminal in Oakland?

Join Daniel for the A’s podcasts each Friday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Mariners beat A’s 5-3 to sweep three game series at Coliseum

Oakland Athletics pitcher Drew Rucinski works against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu May 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Seattle Mariners won Thursday’s game 5-3 to sweep the three-game series with The A’s. Oakland’s starter Drew Rucinski did well in the first two innings, throwing just 17 pitches. Things started to go south in the third and fourth innings.

In the third, he gave a two-run blast to Taylor Trammel. He worked 2/3rd of an inning in the fourth. Rucinski walked four batters and allowed two hits as the Mariners took advantage of Rucinski’s loss of command. They put three runs on the board to lead 5-3. The A’s bullpen stopped the M’s offense as they held Seattle scoreless for the last five innings of the game.

With one out in the bottom of the second, A’s right fielder JJ Bleday blasted his first home run as a member of the Oakland A’s. The A’s lead 1-0

The lead didn’t last long. in the top of the third, A’s starter Drew Rucinski walked the leadoff hitter, J.P. Crawford. The next hitter, Mariners left fielder, Taylor Trammel, belted his second home run of 2023 to give Seattle a 2-1 advantage. The A’s answered in the half of the inning with two runs to take a 3-2 lead after three complete. A’s shortstop Nick Allen, leading off the frame, walked. A’s centerfielder Esteury Ruiz tripled to deep right-centerfield to drive in Allen. Ruiz scored on Teny Kemp’s ground out.

In the fourth, A’s starter Drew Rucinski couldn’t find the strike zone. With two outs, Ruciski walked M’s catcher Cal Raleigh. Teoscar Hernandez doubled, sending Raleigh to third. Rucinski walked the next two hitters, J.P. Crawford and Taylor Trammel.

The walk to Trammel forced in Raleigh with the M’s third run. The M’s ninth hitter in the lineup, Kolton Wong, singled to drive in Hernandez and Crawford. The M’s now lead 5-3 and have men at first and third with two out. Rucinski walked M’s DH Julio Rodriguez to load the base for the second time in the inning.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in Austin Pruitt to pitch. Pruitt retired Ty France for the third out. The M’s lead 5-3 midway through the fourth. Both teams failed to score after the fourth inning. The M’s win 5-3.

Game Notes: The A’s announced they designated pitchers Jeurys Familia and Domingo Acevedo for assignment. The A’s have seven days to trade them or give them unconditional release. Austin Pruitt, Spencer Patton, and Rico Garcia were called up from the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators before Thursday’s game. All three pitched against Seattle. 

With the loss, the ‘s record is an abysmal 6-26. The A’s have gone 32 games without a starting pitcher getting a win. The Mariners improved to 15-16. The line score for Oakland was three runs, eight hits, and no errors. Seattle’s line was five runs, seven hits, and no errors.

Drew Rucinski was the losing pitcher. He has lost both of his starts for the A’s. His line was three and 2/3rds innings of work. He allowed five runs, four hits, five walks, three strikeouts, and one home run. Seattle’s George Kirby won his third game of the year and is now 3-2. Paul Seward earned his ninth save.

The A’s JJ Bleday hit his first home run as an Oakland Athletic. The A’s used five relievers. Austin Pruitt, Sam Long, Spencer Patton. Richard Lovelady and Rico Garcia all did well.

The A’s are going to Kansas City to play three games against the Royals this weekend. Lefty Kyle Muller I0-2 ERA 6.28) will go for Oakland. Kansas City will counter with righty Brad Keller(2-2 ERA 3.56). The game will start at 5:10 pm.

The time of the game was 2:24. 13, 025 were on hand to watch the A’s lose their 26th game of the year.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s on the ropes will try to avoid sweep today against Mariners at Coliseum

Oakland Athletics’ Esteury Ruiz hits an RBI double against the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 On a rainy Wednesday night the A’s and Mariners battled it out which saw another heroic AJ Pollock home run help get Seattle the victory 7-2.

#2 The bottom of the sixth inning saw Oakland’s offense come alive as Ryan Noda started things off by getting walked. Following that up Esteury Ruiz knocked in Noda to get the first run of the game.

#3 However, the A’s were able to hold on to their lead until the ninth inning when a familiar foe struck. Once again Pollock played hero for the Mariners tying the game with a solo HR 2-2.

#4 Eugenio Suarez sent one to right center field and over the wall homering and giving Seattle a 5-2 lead. The run party was not over though as J.P. Crawford singled to right field sending home two runners extending the score to 7-2.

#5 Thursday, afternoon at 12:37. George Kirby (2-2,2.93) will start for the Mariners. Drew Rucinski (0-1, 4.76) will try to save the A’s from getting swept in the current series.

Join Jerry F for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

M’s Pollock and Saurez take A’s deep in 10 inning 7-2 win at Coliseum

Seattle Mariners’ Eugenio Suárez hits a three-run home run against the Oakland Athletics during the 10th inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

Seattle.        000 000 101    5.  –  7. 11. 0

Oakland.    000  002  000 0. –   2.  6.  1 10 innings

Time: 3:07 (66 min. rain delay)  

 Attendance: 2,685

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–What do you do if you have a 1-0 lead and your starter, who has thrown no hit baseball for seven innings, reaches 100 pitches and you have a bullpen that can charitably be described  as shaky? If you’re the 2023 Oakland for a while longer A’s, you pull your starter and lose the game, 2-1. What do you do if you have a rookie outfielder who’s hitting .258?

That’s not a great BA, but  it’s 33 percentage points higher than your team’s average, so the kid’s holding his own against big league pitching. That, however didn’t measure up to the Athletics’ exigent standards, so the team took a look at its farm system and found a guy they’d gotten in exchange for AJ Puk, who was expected to take his place beside Jesús Luzardo as the mainstay of their rotation.

That guy is JJ Bleday, who was hitting .316 in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. Here is what the A’s media guide says in its first bullet point under the heading of “2022 Highlights” for Bleday: “Made both his Triple-A and Major League debuts … was batting .228 … in 85 games with 

Jacksonville when he was selected on July 23  … hit .167 … with the Marlins.” 

We had a chance to see this new acquisition tonight; he was the Athletics’ starting left fielder and batted fifth in the lineup the 6-24 A’s used against the 13-16 Seattle Mariners. Bleday went 0 for 4 and threw out a runner trying to take an extra base.  The A’s lost  7-2 in 10 innings even though they led 2-1 after eight.

But first we had to sit through a one hour and six minutes rain delay.

The home team’s starting pitcher, JP Sears, has thrown a lot of pitches this year, surpassing the 100 pitch mark once but never approaching Mason Miller’s marvelous performance of the previous evening.

The best outing Sears had under his belt in what had been an 0-2, 6.23 season, came on April 23, when his 101 offerings produced 11 strike outs but also allowed the Texas Rangers to score four runs, all earned, in six innings. The A’s won that contest, 5-4, but Sears didn’t figure in the decision

Logan Gilbert, who showed up to work with a 1-1, 4.23 mark, has four arrows in his quiver. He throws four seamers about 45.7% of the time, at an average velocity of 94.7 mph. That makes him somewhat getatable; opponents are hitting at a .356 clip against him when he uses it. Gilbert goes to the slider 23.9% of the time and with an average velocity of 88.5 mph. His two other deliveries are the curve (17.1%, 82 mph) and the split fingered fast ball (13.3% and 84.9 mph).

Sears pitched himself out of a jam in the top of the fourth. Tony Kemp bobbled JP Crawford’s lead off grounder to second and advanced to third on José Caballero’s single to left, Caballero taking second on the throw. Two strike outs and a fly to right center, and the threat was over.

The A’s broke a scoreless tie in the home sixth. Noda led off with a walk. Nick Allen moved him up a notch with a sacrifice between the mound and the late.  Ruíz sent a double to left, where Taylor Trammell had replaced Jarred Kelenic, who had been ejected in the top  of the frame for arguing a strike call.

 That brought Noda home with the first tally of the game. Then Kemp lined a two bagger down the right filed line that plated Ruíz. Gilbert recovered to retire Rooker and Laureano. But Oakland was ahead, 2-0.

Sears didn’t come out to pitch the seventh; Domingo Acevedo did. The southpaw starter had held the M’s to four hits in his six scoreless innings on the mound. He walked two and struck out seven, throwing 97 pitches, 66 for strikes.  Acevedo, who has not been pitching effectively this year, gave up a one out double to AJ Pollock and an RBI single Caballero that cut the A’s lead in half.

Gilbert also exited after six frames. The two runs he’d allowed were earned and came on three hits and two walks. He had six strike outs to his credit and had thrown 89 pitches, 51 of them for strikes.

Gabe Speier relieved him and allowed a couple of two out hits before Penn Murfee came to his rescue by striking out the  pinch hitting Jesús Aguilar.

Sam Moll  gave up a lead off single in the top of the eighth and then got a force out at second that was called a double play and then had the out call at first reversed upon a crew chief review. He picked off the surviving base runner, pinch hitter Sam Heggerty, a play that also received a crew chief review. That call was upheld. Zach Jackson came in to fan Teoscar Hernández for the final out. 

The A’s fell victim to the Curse of the Lead Off Double in their half of the frame. Nick Allen hit the ill-omened two bagger and went to third on Ruíz’s sacrifice bunt. Matt Brash kept him there, retiring Kent and Rooker.

Jackson returned to the mound to face the Mariners’ ninth inning offensive. He wasn’t successful. Cal Raleigh tied up his second game in a row, this time with a towering  blast over the left center filed fence, landing 410 from the launching pad at home plate. It came on a hanging slider.

Lauriano led off the bottom of the ninth against Brash with a single to center. Bleday fanned.  And Langeliers bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.

Overtime began with Adam Oller on the hill for Oakland and Caballero on second for the Mariners as the zombie runner. Rodríguez drew a walk.  France whiffed on a full count. Haggerty also went down swinging. And then Suárez delivered the coup du gace with towering home run to center that deflated the A’s hopes for the second consecutive night.

It came off a slider and travelled 410 feet. Various and sundry mishaps led to Seattle’s adding three runs to their total before Sam Long got the final out, leaving Oakland to enter its half of the 10th trailing 7-2.

Trevor Gott put a quick end to the game.

Brash  (3-2, 4:30) got the win. Oller (1-1, 10.07) took the loss.

Tomorrow, Thursday, afternoon at 12:37. George Kirby (2-2,2.93) will start for the Mariners. Drew Rucinski (0-1, 4.76) will try to save the A’s from complete ignominy.